The Supreme Court will hear the plea of an NGO seeking a stay on the sale of fresh electoral bonds from April 1 till the top court decides on their validity. The petition has been filed by the Association For Democratic Reforms ahead of state assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, and the union territory of Puducherry.

The petition will be heard by a bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde today. The matter was mentioned before the Bench by advocate Prashant Bhushan, who is representing ADR. The petition reads "There is a serious apprehension that any further sale of Electoral Bonds before the upcoming state elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Assam, would further increase illegal and illicit funding of political parties through shell companies. Thus, the petitioner seeks a direction that no further opening of the window for the sale of electoral bonds is allowed during the pendency of the instant writ petition." The plea asked for an urgent hearing requesting the government should not open any further sale window for the sale of electoral bonds since the RBI and Election Commission had both objected to the EB Scheme

The ADR had sought that the amendments carried out to the Finance Act be struck down. This lack of transparency in the accounts of all political parties was cited as the ground by ADR to oppose this scheme. The electoral bond scheme was notified by the central government on January 2, 2018.

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